Gallivanting in the Garden........

[cliffanger]

we are still wallowing in about third reserve, so at least you don't look like having me to contend with

but I have just bid on Wildbills charity Uke so could do a distant duet maybe

Oooooo maybe another convert @Janine !!

 

[Ambilkate]

David you have no idea how many times I have tried to orchestrate this beautiful, soulful tune, reminicscent of the African Savannah..... I've come close ..... at Chester this year with @Carol @Theonlysue @Ambilkate @daveandsan @Popeye Jac's, et al but I'm still striving for perfection - maybe New Years at Shrewsbury will be the one .......

Oh yes xxx

 

[cliffanger]

Well - what a beautiful day it's been here on the sunny Kentish coast. We left Canterbury for the final time (maybe) this morning and headed for Broadstairs and all things Dickens. A sleepy little town, where we parked up a side street and wandered along the pretty winding promenade down into the town....

which makes the most of its famous inhabitant....

Was this where he drank his hot punch......?

Before stopping on the way home.......

And apparently this was home.....

But so was this......

And this....

And this....

Cliff reckons he wiled away a few hours here when he got writer's block.....

That comment hinted that he'd had his fill of all things Dickensian and we moved on down the coast to Ramsgate. It was very busy and there was no where to park, so we drove through, but not before driving along the harbour Quay and me saying 'ooooooo look at that little shop...... Ooooooo look at that lovely little cafe..... We will return Funsters....!

Our next stop was Sandwich. A pretty little 'cinque port' where we stopped for a drink after a wander around the quiet back streets awash with history.

I spotted a tiny cottage with yet another plaque on the wall......

On closer inspection - absolutely brilliant!

We are loving this county!

 

[cliffanger]

We had a beautiful sunset in Sandwich.....

On to Dungeness tomorrow and a night at The Pilot Inn - Happy Daze Indeed!

 

[denisejoe]

I spotted a tiny cottage with yet another plaque on the wall......
View attachment 137117

On closer inspection - absolutely brilliant!
View attachment 137119

We are loving this county!

Try Broadstairs when they have the folk festival! It's absolutely brilliant. If you're in the C&CC there's usually a local meet to stay at with a walk into the town. Next year it's from 11-18 August. We'll certainly be there assuming Joe's able to drive then. Tickets available now from www.broadstairfolkweek.org.uk.

Joe

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[Mousy]

It all looks great Ger, a county I would love to explore one day. I've always wanted to go to dungerness there are some very arty people who live in shacks there. Lots of sculptors. Lots of pics please x

 

[cliffanger]

Try Broadstairs when they have the folk festival! It's absolutely brilliant. If you're in the C&CC there's usually a local meet to stay at with a walk into the town. Next year it's from 11-18 August. We'll certainly be there assuming Joe's able to drive then. Tickets available now from www.broadstairfolkweek.org.uk.

Joe

Would love to do this - maybe an idea for next year before France @Mousy Dawn?

Cliff has his own plaque - fame at last.......

 

[Langtoftlad]

Thanks @cliffandger
Thoroughly enjoying your funny & informative tale.
Yet another trip to be added to my Retirement Grand Tour.
You've shown that even though MH'ing in this country isn't perhaps as easy as elsewhere - its certainly worth the effort.

 

[Popeye]

Crackin' thread Ger, I could actually hear Cliff saying that about the Amusement Arcade.

Saw a photo of us in the pub staring back at me when I entered my man-cave earlier I'm trying to find it on the pc but can't find it anywhere. What date did you and Cliff call down on your way to Poole?

 

[cliffanger]

We called in on our way to Poole on 11th November 2015, but I think the photo of the pub would have been taken on our PYOPAP (Pick Your Own Plants at Popeye's) weekend on 15th April this year.

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[Popeye]

 

[cliffanger]

Thanks @cliffandger
Thoroughly enjoying your funny & informative tale.
Yet another trip to be added to my Retirement Grand Tour.
You've shown that even though MH'ing in this country isn't perhaps as easy as elsewhere - its certainly worth the effort.

If all the Park and Rides were as forward thinking as Canterbury, it would at least make things that little bit easier!
It's not as big as the one on our side of Bristol - which is always a third empty, so if they can do it why can't all the rest?!

 

[cliffanger]

View attachment 137128

Good - very good....

 

[houdini]

Great thread Geraldine, thanks for all the pics and descriptions, it's a trip I'm hoping we will do next year, love exploring our old towns.

"Mum, what would you like for Christmas?"
Book on How To Play The Ukelele.
"Lol, who has got a ukelele?"
Me!

Your inspiration at the New Forest! Won't suggest a duet @DavidG58
''cos I will be rubbish!

 

[TheCaller]

My phone battery ran out so I can't show you photos of artisan bakers, pubs, vintage dressmakers, ironmongers, toy shops, oyster shacks, chippers, cafes, delis, and - as I informed a total stranger (thinking the Squire was walking behind me...) - there are 3 butchers in the space of 40 feet!!! (He must have been a Whitstableownian - he wasn't impressed...)

All this and a tiny theatre that is still showing am dram productions - I think a town to return to on a sunny day in Spring, but it won't be so easy to wander the street at will as it was today.

You can get a piece of Whitstable action on a permanent basis, but it don't come cheap.....

Apart from the oyster shacks, you could almost be describing Louth. As a visit to Jim's new gaff will be obligatory at some point, you will have to drop in. Arrive with an empty fridge & also room to store cheese.

The local Uke session is every Wed night at the Brown Cow. More Trad tunes every Tuesday in the same pub.

Oh, and http://www.louthplaygoers.com/. One of very few am dram societies to own their own theatre.

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[gus-lopez]

I've always wanted to go to dungerness there are some very arty people who live in shacks there. Lots of sculptors. Lots of pics please x

Shacks !! Ancient railway carriages/goods wagons if you please. Unfortunately the days of the cheap stuff has long gone .You'll need to part up with the thick end of a quarter of a million & then it will need a complete rebuild.

If all the Park and Rides were as forward thinking as Canterbury, it would at least make things that little bit easier!
It's not as big as the one on our side of Bristol - which is always a third empty, so if they can do it why can't all the rest?!

I doubt that it would ever happen in Bristol as they've never had a great love of vehicles.

 

[cliffanger]

We walked around Louth market when we were on our travels from Lincoln show a couple of years ago and bought the best pork pie EVER from the local butchers on the Main Street - so now TWO reasons to come back - wonder if @Jim could be paid in pies......

 

[Kevan]

We walked around Louth market when we were on our travels from Lincoln show a couple of years ago and bought the best pork pie EVER from the local butchers on the Main Street - so now TWO reasons to come back - wonder if @Jim could be paid in pies......

Sutton-on-sea, have got a cracking butchers shop, as well as fresh meat they do all there own pies and cooked meats, am sure Jim will find it if he already as not

 

[cliffanger]

Well, what can I say? Parked up in The Pilot car park, after a walk through the desert that is Dungeness - apparently EDF have bought it - wonder what they'll do to it - hopefully nothing!

The wind is howling now, but it cleared a little earlier, so we put waterproofs, hats and gloves on and set off...

Fishing trip anyone.....?

Whatever this bloke is hunting for - he's welcome to it......

When you sit here and eat your fresh local fish....

This is the view .....

And if you want a project - what about this little doer upper.....

A weather vane for a true fisherman - isn't it a beauty....

And finally a tea time teaser - what makes you think a bloke lives here....?

Just off for fish and chips in the Pilot - with a free bottle of wine!

 

[gus-lopez]

EDF . Can't do too much with it . It is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its unusual shingle ridges and the wildlife that lives there.. It was up for sale last year for 1,5 million. Wish I'd had the money to buy it. 9% return (130k) with the rents from the cottages, bird sanctuary & the power station.

Worms/ ground bait , etc; is what they are digging out .You see loads at low tide with a sled tied to them with a rope around their waist.

You didn't have the best day for it by the photo's . Look on the bright side though the rain wasn't coming horizontally.

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[mitzimad]

dungie is bleak on a sunny day

 

[cliffanger]

Well - fish and chips in The Pilot were fantastic - and a bottle of wine included free! @The Dude - thanks for the recommendation. We've loved Dungeness - a real wilderness but with scrap metal everywhere!

We're off to Rye tomorrow - stopping off at Thomas a Becket church in Fairfield on the way!

 

[icantremember]

Well - fish and chips in The Pilot were fantastic - and a bottle of wine included free! @The Dude - thanks for the recommendation. We've loved Dungeness - a real wilderness but with scrap metal everywhere!
View attachment 137232
View attachment 137234
View attachment 137235

We're off to Rye tomorrow - stopping off at Thomas a Becket church in Fairfield on the way!

Don't forget to collect the church key along the road ... it's a fascinating place.

 

[Mousy]

I reckon a bloke lives there cos the washing on the line is badly put out.

 

[cliffanger]

I reckon a bloke lives there cos the washing on the line is badly put out.

Give that girl an orange! Although the absolutely correct answer would be that yes the washing is badly put out - but it is still there when the storm has been raging for at least two hours - and it's still there!

We are sitting in the van listening to gun shots and explosives going off - (we're hoping it's the firing range and not the natives getting restless) - what a Brillo soap pads place this is!

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[cliffanger]

It wasn't the firing range but a piece of scrap metal banging in the wind - all night!

I will write my post in a bit (after eating tea actually), but would lead you to a thread I've put on separately for @Anthea M and all those who are FFRFs (Fellow Funster Relic Fans) - I am still discombobulated ....... Can't paste thread but it's called :

' My relic fans - OMG and I'm not joking!!!!!!! '

I repeat -OOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGG

 

[cliffanger]

Right then lads and lassies - despite still being affected by my religious experience - I shall tell you what we did today. What a lovely - if drizzly day it's been.

We left Amazing Dungeness, but not before driving up to the lighthouse for a quick look....

One of 'ems a bit wonky - hoping it's the one on the left.....

We drove to Fairfield in the rain to see the church of St Thomas a Becket...

After going to Becket Farm to get the key...

Clifton opened the door....

Into a tiny Georgian church with box pews painted white with black linings and a three tiered pulpit...

He then found The King James VI version....

But to atone for any pulpit related wrongdoings, we spent a fiver on a beautiful porcelain mug...

It really was a beautifully understated (if freezing cold) church in the middle of The Romney Marshes - but even this hallowed place has to guard against the vagaries of this heathen age in which we live, in the best way it can.....

We dropped the key back and carried on to Battle, where we hoped to see the spot, in Battle Abbey, where Harold had lost his eye. The guide book said that, rather than having his eye taken out, as misinterpreted in the Bayeaux Tapestry, he was despatched in a 'more workaday fashion' by a good clubbing about the head!

Eager to see the spot where it happened, we found the last free parking space (Battle is NOT MH friendly) on the outskirts, and donning waterproofs we walked the mile back into town.

I read the blurb - in 1976 English Heritage saved the Abbey from God Knows What and bought it 'For The Nation'. Well, these two Nationals, having walked a mile in anticipation found it closed!!!!!! But you could still have the privilege of paying £4.50 to park in the bloody car park! I tell you, if I had paid £52 to be a member (that option was still open....) I would not have been happy!

We walked halfway around in the hope of seeing the battle field but saw nothing - EH has it completely sown up so unless you join you ain't seein nuffin!

We drove on to Rye and are now parked up in the hotel car park - we've had a quick walk round (not to mention a near religious experience) and will get up early for a second visit tomorrow.

We are having a blast in the Garden of England (and my photo clearly shows that Kent, and not Yorkshire is God's Own Country.....

 

[Anthea M]

Ger @cliffandger Glad you had a lovely time even if that relic experience was shocking !
But I beg to differ and say YORKSHIRE is Gods own county!!

 

[cliffanger]

Ger @cliffandger Glad you had a lovely time even if that relic experience was shocking !
But I beg to differ and say YORKSHIRE is Gods own county!!

But do you have your 'own personal (winkin) Jesus'.......?

 

[Anthea M]

No but I'm sure we have some things Old mother Shipton and her putrefied toys springs to mind . She turns things to stone!!
Not religious just witchy I think!!

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